New logo for Air Asia Japan is a little Vanilla

The renamed budget airline wants to attract global business - does this dramatic change in name and logo send the right message?

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NEW NAME AND LOGO: "A very cute name", the airline's president reckons

While European and American air passengers have been enjoying the benefits of low-cost air travel for decades, budget flights are only a very recent introduction to Japan, with three new companies starting operations in the last few years. It's just over 12 months since low-cost airline Air Asia Japan - a joint venture between Tokyo's ANA and Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd - was launched, but it's had a troubled start, posting an operating loss of around $36 million for the year to March.

In June 2013, AirAsia decided to exit its investment in AirAsia Japan, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of ANA - and making its name rather a moot point. So the company has now unveiled its new name and branding, and the change is a dramatic one.

Out goes the bright red, Virgin-esque handwritten logo design of old (below) and in comes a new name, Vanilla Air, and much more sedate blue and yellow logo design (above).

OLD NAME AND LOGO: Where have we seen that style of logo typography before...?

The company - which wants to target global travellers with a particular focus on resort destinations - hired several agencies and spent six weeks choosing from over 200 other names. The airline's president Tomonori Ishii told a news conference: "We chose vanilla as our brand name because it is popular and loved by everyone in the world ... I think it is a very cute name."